Stop Proposals in Congress to Drill in U.S. Waters

On April 20, 2011, a full year will have passed since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 people and leading to the biggest accidental oil spill in history. Oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days, spewing 200 million gallons of oil into the sensitive ocean ecosystem.

In the year since that tragic day, Congress has not passed any legislation to reform offshore drilling policy, or to protect our oceans and coasts in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In fact, some members of Congress are working to expand offshore drilling, even as oil continues to wash up on Gulf beaches.

Wherever there is drilling, oil spills are inevitable.

But right now, some members of Congress, including Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), are introducing legislation that would open up vast areas of the ocean to dangerous offshore drilling – and put thousands of marine animals at risk, from threatened sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, walruses in the Arctic and harbor seals in the Pacific.

Don’t allow another oil spill disaster to happen on our watch. Urge Congress to say NO to reckless legislation that would allow more offshore drilling.

Letter to

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

I am writing today to express my sincere opposition to offshore drilling, and to ask you to oppose any efforts to expand oil and gas drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.

On April 20, 2011, a full year will have passed since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 people and leading to the biggest accidental oil spill in history. Oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days, spewing 200 million gallons of oil into the sensitive ocean ecosystem.

Congress has not passed any legislation to reform offshore drilling policy, or to protect our oceans and coasts in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In fact, some members of Congress are working to expand offshore drilling, even as oil continues to wash up on Gulf beaches.

Congressman Doc Hastings, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, has introduced three bills that will open up previously protected areas of our coast, including Southern California and much of the Atlantic Coast to offshore drilling. The bills also force the Obama administration to approve new drilling permits on a deadline that could prevent the necessary environmental review from being completed.

This is not the kind of leadership we need. I strongly urge you to oppose these and any other bills calling for new offshore drilling and leasing.

Instead, please support bills that provide clean energy and clean oceans – bills that shift subsidies from oil and gas to renewable technology such as offshore wind, bills that hold oil companies financially accountable for all the damage they cause, and bills that prevent new oil and gas leasing in our oceans. It is time we design and implement a strategic plan to end our addiction to dirty, polluting fossil fuels and transition to a clean energy future.